What kind of relationship do you have with your cat?

A team of scientists has established five possible types of relationship between a cat and its human, from fusion to free relationship. And you, where are you located?

A research team from the University of Lincoln, England, interviewed 4,000 cat owners. Then concluded that there are five types of relationships that a cat can have with its master or mistress, reveals The Independent in its Indy100 column. “Cats have close emotional relationships with humans, but little is known about this”, explains Daniel Mills, one of the authors of the study. According to him, the relationship between the cat and its human is generally linked to “the dynamic between the two individuals involved and their personality traits”, as well as “emotional investment level”.

Dependence linked in particular to the cat’s education

Everything is played out during the cat’s education period, depending on the emotional investment of the family that welcomes it. Thus, playing with your cat, getting emotionally involved in his education will make him a warm animal and lead to a friendly relationship. Here, masters and felines are independent and the relationship is balanced. This first type of relationship would be more common in homes where there is more than one cat.

Be careful, if the owners are very invested, they live alone and the cat does not have access to the outside, a co-dependency sets in. The animal considers its human as part of the same social group. He will then tend to lick their hands and faces often, be clingy and may be afraid of being separated. This is the second type of relationship possible.

But perhaps you live more of a long-distance relationship with your feline? Here, humans take care of their animal without considering it as a member of the family. The felines are then friendly, but distant, because they “lack confidence”, says the study. Relationship Type Four: For cats who are outdoors more often than indoors, frequenting other homes, and being away for days in a row, consider yourself in a casual relationship. Finally, you are in an open relationship with your cat if he is distant and willingly rubs himself in the paws of other people. Your cat feels affiliated with you, but he doesn’t really need you. It remains to define what is your relationship with your cat.

Mathilde Wattecamps

Missions: Mathilde is an expert in subjects related to women’s rights and health. Addicted to Instagram and Twitter, never stingy with a good …